"Yo! Young Chris!"
Werewolf Poppet cracked open its mouth that was half-melted by the fire, its vocal cords produced a harsh and bizarre tone, speaking in a flippant tone:
"The drama of your Stonefield family is about to come to an end!"
As soon as the words fell, gunfire exploded like popping beans once more!
The puppets in the arena moved instantly!
The Vampire on stage turned into a shadow and directly plunged into the closest group of bodyguards!
Werewolf claws tore open bulletproof vests, sharp teeth snapped necks, and blood sprayed like a fountain.
Some puppets ran on all fours like true beasts, knocking away hastily raised guns from the bodyguards, with their long arms they dragged people into the shadows, the sound of bones breaking and brief screams being drowned by the more intense gunfire.
The puppets originally seated among the guests also lunged at the bodyguards around the hall!
No screams, no roars, only dull thuds of bodies colliding, the crisp sound of guns being knocked to the ground, and the terrifying sound of flesh ripping like tearing silk.
"Shoot! Shoot!"
"He's coming from over there!"
Bodyguards screamed in panic, desperately opening fire.
Submachine guns spewed flames, bullets hit the puppets, tearing apart their "skin" and "flesh," breaking bones, and even some precisely pierced through the heads of the puppets.
Yet... it was useless!
As long as the core wasn't damaged, the puppets could still move.
This batch of puppets wasn't created by Illari after he came to the manor; there simply wasn't enough time.
He merely gave a facelift to the batch of puppets he brought to Stonefield Manor to meet Sir William's needs for the "replacement plan."
Originally, these puppets were creations explicitly demanded by Bronlin, meant for battle and slaughter. Therefore, Illari put great effort into concealing their deadly core.
After arriving at the manor, Illari didn't deliberately mention this matter—he regarded these puppets as his important creations and his safety ensurances, instinctively not wanting anyone to destroy them.
Thus, the current scene unfolded:
Even bullet holes ripped open their chests, even heads were half-gone, the puppets could still use their fragmented arms to strangle the necks of bodyguards.
Even if bullets broke their legs, they crawled quickly with their arms, their mouths splitting like alien monsters, biting through ankles, severing throats!
They feared no pain, knew no death, had no fear.
Only tireless slaughter.
"Ahhhhh..."
Bodyguards let out extreme screams of terror, more than one mentally collapsed, giving up resistance before the attack arrived.
Flesh flew, limbs and viscera scattered.
The dying moans intertwined with the strange friction of the puppets' movements to form a hellish symphony.
The strong scent of blood seemed to penetrate barriers, rushing straight to the nostrils.
Chris stood dazed within the transparent composite glass.
This barrier, which had previously protected the grandfather and grandson duo from the Alchemy Bomb, was now his only refuge.
He could clearly see everything happening outside, but could do nothing, not even knowing how long he could last.
If his grandfather was still alive... perhaps he could do something… like activating the array of heavy weapons installed inside and outside the venue.
Chris wasn't sure if such things existed, but given Sir William's habits, they must… they surely must!
Yet Chris was unaware of these arrangements—while Sir William was alive, he never completely trusted anyone, not even Chris, his grandson and heir.
Thus, Chris could only watch.
A female puppet grabbed a submachine gun, without hesitation firing into the crowd, her marksmanship even more accurate than bodyguards trained for decades;
Bodyguards trying to flee were blocked by the swarming puppets, submerged in moments by those beast-like puppets;
A bodyguard pinned against the transparent barrier by a Vampire Puppet, sharp teeth splitting the carotid artery, the body convulsed uncontrollably, blood flowing down pale arms.
The Vampire stared fixedly at Chris with scarlet eyes, its mouth twisting into a cruel smile.
Chris's legs trembled uncontrollably. He felt a hot acid rolling in his abdomen, warm liquid trailing down his thighs, physiological fear overwhelming every shred of reason, dignity, and ambition.
He collapsed, shrinking back desperately, pressing against the cold inner wall of the barrier, tears and snot smearing his face, a broken whimpering escaping his throat.
The first to act, the Werewolf Poppet noticed his pathetic state, halting its action of biting a bodyguard to directly crush the man's chest, turning its gaze to Chris, emitting a mocking laugh from its gaping mouth.
It pushed aside the Vampire, striding toward the barrier.
Claws swung out!
"Zzzla!!!"
The composite glass emitted a piercing scraping sound!
The Werewolf slapped the glass hard, head suddenly pressing close, glaring menacingly at Chris, lowering its voice to say:
"Cower in this hard shell turtle, Young Master... let's see how I deal with your relatives!"
It suddenly turned around, feet powerfully kicking the ground, the entire figure shooting toward the upstairs boxes like a cannonball!
There still lay plenty of unconscious Stonefield family members!
"No—!!!" Chris let out a heart-wrenching scream.
In the past, he cared little for these so-called relatives, even wishing them dead. But at this moment, he felt involuntary agony and loneliness.
However, the Werewolf Poppet had already charged in, soon returning to the railing with a person in hand, forcefully reaching out its hand!
"Pft—"
The once unconscious person's chest was pierced, emitting a shrill scream, thrown aside by the werewolf the next moment!
The body hitting the ground with a dull "thud"!
Chris bawled, collapsed, and shouted: "Why! Why hate us so much! My grandfather... he might have intended to use the puppets, but he wasn't aware... wasn't aware you have your own mind! If he knew... If he had known..."
"If he knew?"
The Vampire Puppet hadn't moved far, wiping blood off his mouth and chin, the perfect face sneering:
"Then he'd only try every means to destroy us."
Chris was rendered speechless.
The Vampire Puppet's gaze swept over the bloody companions, voice calm:
"In this world, probably half are like your grandfather, wanting to use our power; the rest are like you, fearing our existence."
"But if you know we have our own consciousness, could even actively start slaughtering, probably ninety-nine percent would wish us to disappear entirely from this world, right?"
"But our creator is different… he wishes to see us become 'people,' granting us genuine thought."
"Illari?" Chris was bewildered: "Isn't Illari?"
The Vampire laughed at him: "Did you think I was talking about that useless Illari?"
"Not Illari??" Chris suddenly realized: "You're talking about—"
The Vampire didn't let him finish, interrupting Chris, saying:
"Also, you've misunderstood something—it's not that we hate you."
He looked down at Sir William's fear-stricken corpse, saying: "Hate is a potent emotion, your actions, at most, only disgust us."
Chris widened his eyes, unable to understand: "Then why... why kill? Why do all this?"
The Vampire laughed: "Isn't this what Sir William taught us?—Prepare gifts before meeting important people."
"—Grandfather?" Chris disorientedly repeated: "When?"
The Vampire Puppet lightly said: "—Yodel Bronlin."
"To the Congress President, the Scourers leader is a valuable gift."
"But to us, the leader of the Prometheus organization, the Stonefield clan, wealthy enough to rival Muggle Society, is the best gift."
Chris's brain buzzed, utterly blank.
And upstairs, the Werewolf Poppet had already slaughtered two boxes of Stonefield members, shakily heading toward the third.